Evening spilled across the mansion like slow-moving honey, warm and quiet, wrapping the corridors in shadows and gold.
Ariana stood by the balcony, lost in thought.
The day had been peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Damian stood behind her without a sound, as he always did.
"You disappear when you're thinking," he said quietly.
She turned, surprised but smiling. "I didn't mean to."
He walked closer, his presence heavy but not suffocating. "What's on your mind?"
She hesitated.
Then answered honestly. "I was just thinking about how different things are now."
He studied her face. "And how do you feel about that?"
"…Safe," she said.
That single word hit him harder than any bullet ever could.
---
A phone rang.
His.
He didn't answer it.
It rang again.
And again.
Ariana glanced at it. "It might be important."
He exhaled sharply, picked it up, and answered only with, "Speak."
Silence.
Then his eyes darkened.
"I told you to stop monitoring my home."
His jaw tightened.
"I don't care who sent you."
A pause.
"Leave before I decide to make you disappear."
The call ended.
Ariana's heart skipped. "Damian…?"
He turned back to her, immediately softening.
"You're safe," he said. "That's all that matters."
She stepped closer. "You can tell me."
For a long moment, he resisted.
Then finally said, "Someone is getting too curious about us."
---
That night, Ariana couldn't sleep.
She walked down the quiet hallway and found Damian in his private study, lights dim, documents spread across the desk.
He didn't tell her to leave.
She walked right up to him.
"You don't sleep either," she said softly.
"Not when there are things I can't control."
She stepped closer. "What if you don't have to control everything alone?"
He looked at her.
Really looked at her.
She was offering him more than comfort.
She was offering partnership.
"I don't want you in danger," he said.
She rested her hands on the desk, leaning closer. "I already am by loving you."
The room fell into silence.
That honesty was devastating.
He stood slowly.
He moved toward her.
Not forceful. Not rushed.
Careful.
As if she was something breakable and priceless.
He stopped only inches from her.
"You shouldn't say things like that," he whispered. "You make my control disappear."
She lifted her face slightly. "Maybe I don't want you to have control with me."
His hand came up, hovering near her cheek.
He didn't touch her at first.
He asked with his eyes.
She didn't move away.
So he finally brushed his fingers along her cheek.
Soft. Barely there.
Not possession. Permission.
He rested his forehead gently against hers.
"You are the most dangerous thing that ever happened to me," he murmured.
"And you're my safest place," she answered.
---
Outside the mansion, behind the gates, a black car sat parked quietly.
Someone inside watched the lights.
Watched the windows.
And smiled.